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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Esernio-Jenssen previously moved to part-time responsibilities after leaving her role as the head of LVHN’s John Van Brakle Child Advocacy Center in September. This followed the August release of Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley’s report that highlighted the reported trend of child abuse misdiagnoses. The lawsuit claims that Esernio-Jenssen already had a history of making false child abuse diagnoses, in states such as Florida and New York, before LVHN hired her in 2014. A Florida parent reportedly wrote to LVHN a month after Esernio-Jenssen’s hiring, informing the network of this history. “I can assure you that what we know now is just the tip of the iceberg,” Bosworth said. “We are looking forward to aggressively pursuing justice and finding out everything we can.”
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GIST: "A doctor criticized for reportedly making false child abuse misdiagnoses now faces a lawsuit for such an accusation alongside Northampton County and Lehigh Valley Health Network.
The lawsuit alleges that pediatrician Debra Esernio-Jenssen of LVHN falsely accused the plaintiff, Bath resident Amanda Suranofsky, of child abuse in December 2019.
“Dr. Jenssen and the defendants have wreaked havoc upon the lives of countless children and families, including plaintiff and her minor children … who were forced to live separately for nearly half a decade as a direct result of the recklessly false allegations of child abuse rendered against plaintiff by Dr. Jenssen and her enablers,” the lawsuit said.
The suit, filed by attorney Tom Bosworth in Philadelphia on Thursday, lists over 20 defendants, including Esernio-Jenssen, LVHN physician Ruchita Doshi, LVHN itself, Jefferson Health System, KidsPeace, Northampton County and the county’s Children and Youth Services.
Jefferson Health is based in Philadelphia; last month, it announced a pending merger with LVHN.
Responding to a request for comment, Northampton County spokesperson Brittney Waylen said, “We haven’t seen the complaint, therefore, we have no comment.”
Robert Martin, the director of communications and engagement for KidsPeace, said in a statement that “we are confident in the commitment of our associates to providing a safe environment for all children in our care. As a matter of policy, KidsPeace does not comment specifically on ongoing litigation.”
An LVHN spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
According to media reports at the time, Suranofsky was accused of shaking her 7-week-old baby and faced multiple criminal charges. Bosworth said most of these were dismissed except for a reckless endangerment charge that she pleaded guilty to in order to avoid going to trial for all the charges.
Suranofsky told police the baby was injured after falling out of a bassinet.
Doshi’s assessment was that the infant suffered an “abusive head trauma injury.” Esernio-Jenssen later determined that Suranofsky abused her children and that all of her children should be removed from Suranofsky’s custody, according to the lawsuit.
A Northampton County Children and Youth caseworker went on to interview Suranofsky’s other children, who said they were spanked by their mother and were afraid of her.
Bosworth said Thursday that the infant at the time didn’t have certain symptoms indicating violent shaking, such as injuries to the neck or bleeding behind the retinae in the eyes.
He also disputed the account that his client’s other children were afraid of their mother, claiming that information came from Esernio-Jenssen.
Bosworth said that Esernio-Jenssen’s accusation led to Suranofsky losing custody of all her children for four years; she is still trying to regain custody of the child injured in 2019.
The lawsuit also alleges that two of Suranofsky’s children were sexually abused during their time in the foster care system, when they were under the responsibility of KidsPeace. The lawsuit further accused Esernio-Jenssen of not investigating those allegations thoroughly enough for potential child abuse when one of those children went to the emergency room for pain and irritation in the pelvic area.
Bosworth said no criminal charges have resulted from those incidents.
He said the lawsuit’s goals included obtaining justice and accountability for Suranofsky, either with a settlement or jury verdict, and removing Esernio-Jenssen from LVHN.
Esernio-Jenssen previously moved to part-time responsibilities after leaving her role as the head of LVHN’s John Van Brakle Child Advocacy Center in September. This followed the August release of Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley’s report that highlighted the reported trend of child abuse misdiagnoses.
The lawsuit claims that Esernio-Jenssen already had a history of making false child abuse diagnoses, in states such as Florida and New York, before LVHN hired her in 2014. A Florida parent reportedly wrote to LVHN a month after Esernio-Jenssen’s hiring, informing the network of this history.
“I can assure you that what we know now is just the tip of the iceberg,” Bosworth said. “We are looking forward to aggressively pursuing justice and finding out everything we can.”
https://www.mcall.com/2024/01/25/lawsuit-filed-against-lvhn-doctor-over-alleged-child-abuse-misdiagnosis/PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog; |
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan;
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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